1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for inputting data related to the service of an electronic device, and more particularly, to a method for automatically storing information on the first date that an electronic device is used after purchase, for purposes of verifying the warranty period of the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the event that an abnormality occurs in product quality during a predetermined warranty period, a supplier customarily repairs the defective product or replaces the same with a new one free of charge.
In servicing the defective product, in order to check whether the product is under its warranty period, a label or tag is fixed on a written guarantee or an outer surface of the product and the purchase date of the product is written thereon by vendors. However, vendors seldom write the purchase date on the written guarantee, label or tag. Also, even when vendors write the purchase date, customers may often lose the written guarantee, label or tag indicating the purchase date.
A problem also occurs because some customers intentionally discard the written guarantee and request free servicing, even if the warranty period has expired. Although improper, this practice is quite common.
Most Korean domestic suppliers of electronic appliances and products render a two-year warranty period. Also, since customers seldom hold the written guarantee, it is a customary practice to grant a 30-month warranty period from the manufacturing date. However, even if the 30-month warranty period has elapsed, in order to avoid a dispute with customers who insist on a warranty, free servicing is customarily rendered. Therefore, the product suppliers incur unplanned costs in connection with these extra servicing expenses. Also, in determining the warranty period, disputes with customers may occur, which impairs the establishment and maintenance of good relationships with customers.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for automatically storing the first date that an electronic device is used after purchasing the product.
Accordingly, to achieve the above object, there is provided an apparatus for storing information concerning the first date that an electronic device is used, the apparatus including (1) a clock data generator, which receives power from an auxiliary power supply portion, for generating time information, (2) a memory for storing the time information, and (3) a controller for determining whether or not there is a connection to a main power supply for operating the electronic device and whether or not there is a specific key input after the connection to the main power supply, for determining whether or not the time information stored in the memory equals an initially set value if there is the connection to the main power supply or the specific key input, and for automatically storing the time information generated from the clock data generator.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for storing information concerning the first date of use of an electronic device having a clock data generator, a memory and a controller, the method including the steps of (a) determining whether or not a specific command is input to the controller, (b) if it is determined in step (a) that the specific command is input to the controller, determining whether or not date information is stored in a memory area for storing the information concerning the first date of use of the electronic device, and (c) if it is determined in step (b) that the date information is not stored in the memory area, storing the date information generated from the clock data generator in the memory area.
Alternatively, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for storing information concerning the first date of use of an electronic device having a clock data generator, a memory and a controller, the method including the steps of (a) determining whether or not a first specific command is input to the controller, (b) if it is determined in step (a) that the first specific command is input to the controller, storing date information generated from the clock data generator in a memory area for storing information concerning the manufacture date of the electronic device, (c) determining whether or not a second specific command is input to the controller, (d) if it is determined in step (c) that the second specific command is input, determining whether date information is stored in the memory area for storing the manufacture date and a memory area for storing the first use date, and (e) if it is determined in step (d) that date information is stored in the manufacture date storing area but date information is not stored in the first use date storing area, storing date information generated from the clock data generator in the first use date storing area.